As I was drafting this post, my heart led me in a different direction than what I originally intended. So, this week’s Foodie Friday takes on more of a personal flair, and the food part becomes secondary. Ironically, this post features probably the most interesting meal I’ve ever had. One day, while lunching at our favorite restaurant, Jacintos, in Old Town Montevideo, I noticed something new on their chalkboard menu. Cena de Invierno (Winter Dinner) and below it, 3 names,…
Sleeping Puppies Collection, Santiago
After spending some time in a city, I always come to associate it with certain things that particularly stick out in my mind. Like Montevideo is all about the doors. Buenos Aires was all about the pastries and cakes. And Santiago? Well it was all about the mote con huesillos, jugo naturales, coffee shops, pisco sours… (hmmm.. I’m starting to see a drink theme going on). But it was also all about the stray dogs. You’ll see them everywhere, in both the poorer areas and the affluent areas….
Is Buenos Aires Over-rated?
Buenos Aires was a city I already loved even before visiting. Whenever I thought about it, I conjured up romantic images of quaint French style buildings, cobblestone streets, cute sidewalk cafes, and heavenly delicate pastries. I mean, come on, it’s Paris of the South… what could go wrong? What WOULDN’T I dislike? Yep, I was not wrong and Buenos Aires had all those things and more. The Palermo neighborhood we stayed in had quaint French style buildings aplenty. We walked…
All about ordering steak in Buenos Aires!
“What’s a bife de chorizo?” We ask our semi-English-speaking waiter. “Ummm… it’s hard to explain,” he stumbles. “Chorizo is a sausage.” “Oh ok, so it’s a beef sausage.” We help him out. “No no no. But it’s not a sausage. It’s beef. It’s a very Argentinian thing.” At this point, we are utterly confused. Where I come from, chorizo is a spicy Mexican sausage. So in order to avoid getting something totally weird, we order something else instead. Sigh… As you can see,…
Free Things to do in Buenos Aires
I was surprised to find that the US dollar does not go very far in Buenos Aires (this is during travel in May 2014. And of course, that depends on which exchange rate you are able to get, but I’ll cover that later separately). But the city does offer plenty of free things to do (or very cheap, at least). Here are some of the best free things to do in Buenos Aires, kind of in order of awesomeness, but…
Montevideo, Uruguay: First Impressions
We sailed towards Montevideo into a gorgeous sunset, the horizon exploding into streaks of pink and gold. Is there a better way to be greeted into a new country?! By the time we docked and disembarked, the sun would have completely set and we would be met by a gust of crisp evening air. We follow our host, Greg, as we walk from the Buquebus terminal to our apartment for the next month, wheeling our luggage over the cobblestone streets. We…
Recoleta Cemetery: City of the Dead
weeping angels // dried flowers // marbled tombs // wooden coffins // roaming cats // silky cobwebs This is the hauntingly beautiful Recoleta Cemetery. For a huge city that draws millions of tourists a year, this cemetery remains the #1 attraction in all of Buenos Aires. It has to be something special, right? Visiting cemeteries has never been on my list of must-do travel activities, so I was feeling quite skeptical as I set off to find out what’s so special about a cemetery. As soon…
How to get fat in Buenos Aires
Over my past few weeks here in Buenos Aires, I have developed an intense love-hate relationship with the food. You see, perhaps you picture gigantic slabs of meat and massive racks of ribs when you think about Argentinian cuisine. I did too. We’d both be right, but only partially. While I have had some of the best, and largest, meat of my life here, I’ve also learned that it’s not steakhouses (parrillas) around every corner and a hunk of beef…
Buenos Aires Zoo: is it worth a visit?
D can attest to the fact that I have not stopped squealing at my pictures of the adorably cute Patagonian mara ever since our visit to the Buenos Aires Zoo (seriously, I have its picture as my phone wallpaper and I squeal every time I turn on my phone). But those little unique creatures weren’t the only good reason for spending an afternoon at the zoo. In this Part 2, I am sharing some pictures and information about the gorgeous zoo itself. The…
Buenos Aires Zoo: Close Encounters with the Patagonian Mara
Put me anywhere with animals, and I’m like a kid in a candy store. But I do have mixed feelings about visiting zoos. On one hand, it makes me sad to see tigers behind glass, or a condor in a cage, when they should be out in the wild. But on the other hand, where else do I go see animals when I’m not anywhere near the wild?? I don’t plan on going on an African Safari or to the…